Building construction and unit therefor



June 15, 1943. F. H. RUPPEL 2,321,860

BUILDI NG CONSTRUCTION AND UNITS THEREFOR Filed Feb. 3, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 15, 1943.

F. H. RU PPEL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND UNITS THEREFOR Filgd Feb. 3, 194

Patented June 15, 1943 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND UNIT THEREFOR FrederickH. Ruppel, Pasadena, Calif.

Application February 3, 1941, Serial No. 377,151

Claims.

This invention relates to a building construction and to units for saidbuilding construction, and refers particularly to a buildingconstruction the units of which are adapted to be prefabricated anddemountable from the building.

Anobject of the present invention is to provide a siding unit for abuilding, which siding unit is composed of a composite of metal andinsulating material, and which siding unit may be prefabricated at arelatively low cost.

The siding unit of the present invention is made of sheet metal, such asgalvanized iron, combined with a material to provide heat and soundinsulation, such as fiberboard, in such a manner as to form a. rigidsiding unit possessing, because of the combined relationship of thecomponent parts, a considerable structural strength. By the presentinvention there is provided siding which may be substituted for lumber,which siding is composed of materials of low cost and adapted to bereadily prefabricated for use. By means of the present invention, sheetmetal such as galvanized iron is made' into metal lumber having a numberof novel attributes and advantages. Previous attempts to employgalvanized iron, for example, for building sidings have had thedisadvantage that the galvanized iron provided a noisy siding which didnot retain shape and kinked readily in use. By means of the presentinvention sidings of galvanized iron are produced which are rigid inform and fully insulated against transfer of sound and heat. The sidingsof the present invention are further so produced that they may bereadily installed in a building, and in case it is desired to dismantlethe building are readily demountable and movable therefrom in a formsuitable for their subsequent use in the construction of otherbuildings.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means forinterconnecting siding members, including certain novel cornerconnecting units adapted to facilitate the mounting and demounting ofthe siding units in the operations of constructing or demounting abuilding using such units.

Various further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom a description of a preferred form or example of the invention. andfor that purpose I have hereafter'illustrated n connection with theaccompanying drawings a preferred example of the invention, in WhichFigure 1 is an elevation in vertical section of a building wall.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary section of an alternate form. of roofstructure.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section of a corner construction.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section of a typical joint betweensiding units.

Figure 5 is a similar view of amodified form of joint.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical section indicating the manner ofvertically joining the siding units.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the siding units.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 8- 8 of Figure7.

Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 9--9 of Figure7. i,

Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line I0--|0 ofFigure '7.

Figure 11 is a section on the line ll -ll of Figure 7. v

Figure 12 is a section of a modified form of connecting the structuralunits at the sides.

Referring first to Fig. 7 of the drawings, the structural units of thepresent invention are formed of metallic sheets 2 of any desiredmaterial, preferably galvanized iron, such, for example, as 24-gauge. Ifind it desirable, for example, to employ sheets of galvanized iron of astandard width in forming the units of the present invention. Thus,standard widths of galvanized iron sheets of either 12, 16, 20, 24, 28,32 or 36 inches, etc., may be selected, of any desired length such. as8,.10 or 12 feet, etc. Such sheets 2 are bent at their edges to formsides 3 of a fiat trough and a portion of the edge then bent outwardlyas indicatedat 4 to provide flanges. The flanges serve, as indicatedhereafter, as means by whichlsuitable strengthening straps may beattached to the unit and by means of which connections may be madebetween adjacent units. As illustrative but not limiting the invention,the sides 3 may be conveniently threequarters of an inch and the flangesthree-eighths of an inch.

The sheet metal member 2 thus formed provides a trough or panel designedfor holding suitable insulating material 5. For such insulating with asuitable binding material.

of such a binding material I have found a high melting point asphalt orpetroleum cement most satisfactory.

After the installation of the insulating material, I further strengthenthe resulting unit by the addition of a plurality of reinforcing strapssuch as the straps 6, I, 8, 9 and I0. desired number of straps may beemployed, and in certain cases it may be found desirable to employ somediagonal straps. Straps 6, I, 8, 9 and I0, for example, are attached tothe flanges 4 of the sheet metal member 2 in any preferred or desiredmanner, such for example as welding. The bottom strap 6 of the unit andthe top strap I of the unit include portions II adapted to be bentinwardly to extend into the trough formed by the sheet metal member 2and cover or enclose the ends of the fiberboard member 5. The bottomstrap member 6 is further preferably provided with means by which theresulting siding unit may be mounted in position, and for this purposethe member is indicated as provided with certain clips I2 extendingdownwardly, which clips I2 may be conveniently formedby cuttin thestraps and bending the clips thus formed outwardly into thedesiredposition as indicated. There is also preferably provided on thebottom strap 6 one or more stop clips I3 which likewise may be formed bycutting the strap 6.

The upper strap member ID is likewise preferably provided with clips I4preferably cut from the strap member and bent outwardly to extendupwardly as indicated.

In certain cases it may be desirable to provide clips such as I5 oncertain of the other straps, such as 8 of the unit.

Now referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, I have thereindicated a typical exterior wall constructed by the prefabricated unitsof the present invention. While the units of the present invention maybe attached to various studdings and frameworks, I have indicated a wallunit in which on the foundation I6 there are provided studs of the lightweight expanded beam form I1, and which studding may include certainhorizontal bridgings I8 of the expanded beam form. At the bottom of thewall, certain angle irons I9 are indicated. The units A of the pres entinvention are mounted in place by the clips I2' being slipped over theangle irons 9 and the member lowered until the upper edge of the angleiron I9 engages the stops I3. The clips I5 similarly engage thehorizontal bridging I8. At the upper end of the sid ng the clips I4 areengaged with top plates provided at the upper end of the studdingemployed in the frame.

The other elements of the typical exterior wall indicated may be of anydesired or conventional form. I have shown an inner facing 2| which maybe formed of fiberboard, although in certain instances it may bedesirable to form such inner fac ng from the units A of the presentinvention. 22 indicates a suitable roof truss structure formed ofexpanded I-beams in the manner described in my Patent No. 2,201,504,issued May 21, 1940. While in general it may be preferable to providethe sheathing of the roof with board 23 as indicated, in certain casesthe siding units of the present invention may be employed for thatpurpose in the manner indicated in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 the roof trussmember 23 is indicated as provided with a purlin 24,-which may be formedof sheet metal bent into an inverted U shape and held to the trussmember 22 by purlin clips 25,

Obviously any i The sidings A of the present invention are mounted asindicated with their flanges 4 engaging the top of the purlin 24 and maybe fixed to the purlin 24 by suitable sheet metal screws indicated at26. Any desired roofing material 21 may then be placed over the sidingmembers, which are in this case employed as roof members.

Now referring more particularly to Fig. 4 of the drawings, a preferredmeans for interconnecting the siding members along vertical meetinglines is there indicated. The connection is made by inserting suitableinsulating material such as fiberboard 28 in the trough-like spaceformed between the adjacent siding members A, which fiberboard may becemented in place by suitable binding material, and over the surface ofthe fiberboard 28 is placed a channel member 29. Suitable means areprovided for holding the channel member in place and for this purpose Ipreferably employ sheet metal screws 30 of a sufficient length to extendbetween the flanges 4 adjacent siding members A.

An alternate form of joint between adjacent siding members is indicatedin Fig. 5, which, however, requires a slightly modified form of sidingmember having its side walls 3| bent inwardly so that the adjacentsiding members, when pushed together, form a triangular space betweenthe members. Such triangular space is filled with an insulating material32 such as fiberboard, which likewise may be cemented in position by asuitable binding agent. The joint indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawingshas the advantages of bringing the flat sides 3 ofthe sheet metalmembers of the sidings approximately together, but the connection somade does not leave the siding members readily demountable as in thecase of the connection indicated in Fig, 4.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings I have indicated one preferred method ofinterconnecting the siding members vertically, when, because of theheight of the wall to be constructed, it becomes desirable to stack thesiding members vertically over each other. For such purpose the sheetmetal connecting member 33 is indicated having a leg 34 disposed againstthe inner side of the upper siding member A and a leg 35 disposedagainst the outer side of the lower siding member. Insulating materialsuch as fiberboard may be inserted at 36, as'indicated.

Now referring more particularly to Fig. 3 of the drawings, I haveindicated the manner of forming corner connections between the sidingmembers, for which purpose I provide an outer angle iron 3'I'of a sizeto bear against the adjacent siding members and form a completion of theintended corner. A second angle iron 38 is provided on the inner side ofthe siding mem-.. bers and bolts 39 are indicated as interconnecting thetwo angle irons 31 and 38 for the purpose of drawing and tightening theadjacent siding members together,

Referring to Fig. 12 of the drawings, a modified method of connectingthe structural units A at the sides is indicated, in which the troughprovided by the flanges 4 of adjacent structural units A is preferablyfilled with insulating material such as fiberboard, suitably cemented inposition. The channel iron 40 is placed against the top of the groove,and at the rar face of the units A I provide U-shaped members 4| whichmay be formed of sheet metal such as galvanized iron and which arefilled and cemented with insulating material as indicated at 42. Bolts43 are provided extending from the channel 40 through the U-shapedmember H. By the construction thus provided the U-shaped member H andits filling of insulating material unite structurally to form what maybe considered a sup-. porting stud for the facing units A.

While the particular form of the invention herein described is welladapted to carry out the objects of the invention, it is to beunderstood that various modifications may be made, and this invention isof the scope set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A composite structural siding which comprises a sheet metal memberformed into a shallow trough, an unbroken board of insulating materialentirely filling said trough, an asphaltic binder between said board andmetal member uniting the same into a composite unit, reinforcing stripsconnecting opposite trough edges, and mounting clips provided by certainof said reinforcing strips.

2. A composite structural siding which comprises a sheet metal memberformed into a shallow trough, an unbroken board of insulating materialentirely filling said trough, an asphaltic binder between said board andmetal member uniting the same into a composite unit, reinforcing stripsconnecting opposite edges of said trough, there being reinforcing stripsat the ends of said siding, said reinforcing strips having portions bentinwardly/ to cover the ends of the insulating material, and mountingclips formed from said strips and extending outwardly.

3. A wall structure for a building comprising a studding, a plurality ofsiding members supported by said studding, each siding member includinga sheet metal member formed into a shallow trough, an unbroken boardofinsulating material entirely filling said trough, an asphaltic binderbetween each board and metal member uniting the same into compositeunits, and reinforcing strips extending across said trough, certain ofsaid reinforcing strips providing mounting clips, said mounting clipsengaging the elements of said studding for holding said siding membersthereto.

4. A composite structural siding which comprises a sheet metal memberbent to form a shallow trough, an unbroken board of insulated materialentirely filling said trough, a binder between said board and metalmember uniting the same into a composite unit, reinforcing stripsconnecting opposite trough edges, and mounting clips provided by certainof said reinforcing strips.

5. A wall structure for a building, comprising a studding, a pluralityof siding members supported by said studding and horizontal members of awall frame, each siding member comprising a sheet metal member formedinto a shallow trough, an unbroken board of insulating material entirelyfilling said trough, a binder between each board and metal memberuniting the same into composite units, and reinforcing strips extendingacross said trough, certain of said reinforcing strips providingmounting clips, said mounting clips engaging the horizontal members forholding said siding members thereto.

FREDERICK H. RUPPEL.

